Christian Easter Ideas

I've been praying a lot lately about this coming Easter Sunday, I want to make it fun and exciting for my nephew, all while focusing on Easters true meaning. God has answered my prayers in some great ways this week and I'm so excited about it myself that I really wanted to share.

• Resurrection Eggs - I don't know how eggs got brought into Easter (and I ride the fence on whether they should be included) but this is a good way to bring them into it's true meaning. Each egg has something different inside relating to the resurrection of Christ. The eggs come with a book that has related scripture for each of the items in the eggs and a good lesson to go with each egg if needed. There are also several websites that have different guides to creating your own resurrection eggs.
• Resurrection Rolls - A cooking project to do with your kids...
  
  • 3/4 cup warm water, 1 large egg, 3 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 6 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons dry milk, 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
    
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 24 marshmallows
    
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  • Combine first 8 ingredients. Let rise until double. Divide into 24 balls and flatten. **Or skip this step and substitute with either Rhodes frozen bread dough *or* a few cans of crescent rolls** If using the frozen bread dough: let thaw but use before it rises. If using crescent rolls: be warned, I don't know that these are easy to keep the cracks out of.
    
  • Mix sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.
  • Melt butter in separate bowl.
    
  • Dip marshmallow (representing Christ) in melted margarine, then into sugar mixture. Wrap roll around a marshmallow, covering completely (representing the tomb). Make sure there are no holes or cracks for the marshmallow to leak out of. Dip entire roll into butter, and again into sugar & cinnamon. Place rolls in a large greased pan (if using the 8 ingredients to make bread, at this point allow to rise till double (about 35 minutes)).
  • Bake at 375 degrees F for about 15 minutes, or until done. Rolls should be completely empty when cooled...like the empty tomb.
  • As you and your children make these you can get them excited about the marshmallow inside and how it will taste. When its time to eat them and the children discover the marshmallow gone, it's a good time to explain how the rolls represent Jesus and his resurrection.
    
  • I have to say thanks again to Kathy for telling me about both resurrection eggs and rolls, your a life saver!
    
• Dying Eggs /Egg Hunt - While eggs aren't mentioned in the bible, we can remind kids they can be a representation of the beginning of spring and the start of new life.
• Activity Book - Hidden Objects, Secret Message, Word Search 1, Word Search 2, Word Search 3, Word Search 4, Coloring pages: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8. These are all centered around telling the story of Christ and his resurrection.
  

So far we've been doing a resurrection egg each night; Blake is just so into studying Gods word. We've done several bible studies with him since he got here in February and I am just amazed at how much he loves to do these. I thought it would be something like studying a school book but he's never complained once and is always eager to start. Such a blessing that is!

Anyway back to Easter... Along with everything listed above, I figure I'll get him a little candy, hoping to find some little trinkets that relate to the bible story (maybe a cross pendant and necklace) and am going tomorrow to find a stuffed donkey, or a stuffed Eyore. One of our studies on the resurrection eggs is about how Jesus was given a donkey to ride into Jerusalem on (as was foretold in the Old Testament). I use to love getting stuffed animals for Easter as a little girl and though a stuffed donkey might be a great way to tie into Matthew 21:1-9.

The easter bunny is a fun lovable character but.. he has nothing to do with Easter, and is nothing but a distraction from what Easter is all about. So while I have nothing against those who do chose to celebrate with the Easter bunny, we make a personal choice not to center Easter around a bunny in our home... Any other time of the year, we love bunnies. :)

This was the first year I discovered that you really have to make an effort to avoid all the bunny hype when trying to focus on Christ. Thank Heavens for helpful friends and the internet!

Urging you to put the day-to-day distractions, busyness, and pettiness aside and get down to the things that really matter. Wishing you a Happy Easter spent in reflection of His great sacrifice. Enjoy your loved ones and take the time to dive into the bible and share/study/learn His great message, The Good News of Jesus Christ.

Kiana